Surface-finishing of bituminous-composition roofing



entree-stares earner carton.

tenants 0. woonnnr, or EVANSTON, rntinois.

SURFACE-FINISHING or BITUMINOUS-COMPOSITION noorrne.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Ho Drawing. Application filed February 24, 1915, Serial No. 10,239. Renewed October 25, 1919. Serial No; 333,367.

To all-whom it may concern:

Be' it known that T, JAMES C. Woonnnna citizen of the United States, residing in 'Evanston, Illinois, have invented certain ferred to. The process may be coincident with theconversion of the composition into sheets of the desired thickness or it may be applied to sheets already formed.

T employ the term bituminous composition roofing not only to include all roofings known commercially as bituminous composi .tion but also such roofing as is made from one or more sheets of the so-called dry felt or dry roofing paper of commerce, or other fibrous base previously prepared in sheet form, which is or may be saturated as much as practicable with a bituminous or similar waterproofing material; with or without a superficial layer of varying thickness of bituminous or, similar waterproofing material on one or both surfaces of the sheet.

' The term bituminous composition roofing also refers to composition roofing of the character described in my co-pending application, Serial No. 796,143, filedUctober 20,

1913, now Patent 31,15 ,122, 'Oct. 12, 1915, as well as other roofings in sheet, tile, or shingle form which have bituminous or simi lar surfacing which is susceptible of being treated in accordance with my invention as herein described.

It is old in the art when called rubber roofings of commerce which ordinarily consist of a dry felt base which making the sosheet and then passing the coated sheet through squeeze rolls, which remove the surplus coating. Tn many cases the coating process is. done by passing the saturated sheet between two rolls mounted one above the other and allowingthe lower roll to re volve in a bath of the surface coating, which roll picks up some of said coating and applies it to the underside of'said sheet; while at the same time, if desired, an additional supply of the surface coating is supplied to the top rolls and by the spacing allowed between the rolls the thickness of the coating on the sheet is regulated. The rolls, if preferred, are

"sometimes set horizontally in the same plane with the sheet passing down between them from above and the surface coating supplied on one or both sides of the sheet before it passes between said rolls. @r the coating may be supplied to the surface in any desired manner, but ordinarily the coated sheet passes between revolvin rolls, which remove the surplus coating. @rdinarily the consistency of the coating is such that some of said coating sticks to the surface of the coating rolls and in doing so causes the coated surface on said sheets which are passing away from said coating rolls to have a somewhat roughened surface, which is often known in the trade as an alligator finish because it resembles somewhat alligator leather. The effect produced in this way is purely an accidental and ordinarilya necessary feature in their process of coating sheets of composition roofing. In some cases the finished sheets of said composition roofing have been made with a smooth finish or surface by using special means to avoid or eliminate the natural alligator finish, and to pre vent the bituminous material from sticking to the rolls.

So far as I am aware, it is new in the art to treat the surface of bituminous composition' roofing by intentionally embossing said surface with a predetermined design. The design produced by this invention is repeated at regular intervals in the length of the sheet and is clearly distinguished by its prear ranged regular character from the haphazard alligator finish. The predetermination of the design also permits the sheets to be made with an accurately controlled relief. The quantity of material which stands in mama Jury 12, rear.

of the sheet before it reaches the ing the alligator finish with the haphazard design.

My invention will be described first with respect to the standard rubber roofings of commerce mentioned and briefly described above. The surface coating having been ap-' plied in any desired way and having either the usual alligator finish or the smooth finish is, while said surface is in a sufiiciently plastic condition, subjected to pressure while in contact with another surface carrying a pattern of the desired design and thereby I emboss such design on or into the surface coating of the sheet. One preferred method is to pass the sheet through compression rolls covered with cloth of the desired texture and weave which imparts to one or both surfaces of the sheet the imprint corresponding with that of the cloth on the rolls. Instead of using cloth-covered rolls I may simply apply a sheet or an endless belt of cloth to one or both surfaces of the coated sheets of composition roofing by passing the cloth and sheet of said roofing simultaneously through compression rolls, embossing the surface coating of said sheet with the imprint of the cloth. Or I may employ a sheet of any other material carrying the desired pattern, in-

stead of a sheet of cloth as just described. Or I may employ the usual type of embossing rolls of copper, steel, wood or any other material, said rolls having on their face the desired pattern which is embossed bypressure on the surface of the sheet of composition roofing as said sheet is compressed between said embossing rolls. Or I may use an embossing or stamping press. At the end of each rotation of an embossing roll thedesign is repeated on the sheet in the regular style above referred to. The same is true for each passage of the length of a sheet or belt of cloth or the like and for each embossing or stamping operation.

Instead of applying the surface coating upon a felt base and forming the product into sheets and thereafter embossing the sheets in a later operation, as above described, I may perform the embossing operation simultaneously with the rolling of the composition into sheets by using suitable embossed rolls for the first sheet'rolling operation. Thismethod is particularly applicable to the composition of my application No. 7 96,143 above referred to. This composition is produced in thick formless masses of mmy bituminous material with disintegrated fibers distributed substantially homogeneously throughout it. These masses have Ordinarily when embossing this composition roofing I find it desirable or necessary to powder the surface of the composition roofing with soapstone or other suitable material to prevent the surface of said roofing from st cking to the embossing roll or surface, or I may powder the embossing surface-itself or both. Or I may moisten or wet said surface of the roofing or said embossed surface to accomplish the same result. Or I may use a mixture of water and soapstone or water and other materials. In fact any lubricating material may be used for this purpose which prevents undue adhesion and at the same time permits a frlctional grip of the rolls to draw the sheet through.

Where cloth or similar absorbent material is used it may become sticky after a time by can be washed with a suitable solvent and reused. A preferred method is to use rolls covered with cloth which is kept moistened with wateror with a mixture of water and.

I may employ any desired design, either to imitate cloth, leather or other fabric, or for arbitrary ornamental purposes or for identification of the goods in the manner of a trade-mark or other special mark, and the design may be raised above the surrounding material or may be depressed below' the same, or may be partly above and partly below the surrounding material. The sheets may be either in rolls or cut sheets of any size or may be out into so-called tiles or shingles and these so-called tiles or shingles decorated in accordance with the.present invention; all thesearticles being included in the roofing in sheet form to which the invention relates. In the case of sheets larger than individual tiles or shingles the design applied may simulate a series of shingles or tiles. This class of material, though known commercially as roofing, is used for sidings of temporary buildings and for various other analogous purposes, and my invention is applicable with advantage to all these uses of the material.

The depressions in the surface of the sheet serve to hold a considerable quantity of the soapstone which is used as above described in the process of manufacture. The design serves also to render less conspicuous any variations in color of the material and any irregularities in the surface or any buckles or wrinkles which occur in laying or after laying the sheets.

The design produced by pressure with a textile fabric comprises'ridges less than one inch apart, integral with the material on which the ridges are formed and with pockets between these-parallel ridges spaced less than an inch apart. The dimensions are predetermined by the coarseness or fineness of the textile fabric used. Since the ridges are formed by the spaces between successive parallel threads of the fabric,.which spaces are less than the thickness of the threads, such ridges cover less than half of the total area of the. surface.

The product of my invention is not claimed in the present application, being claimed in my application No. 170,414 filed May 23, 1917.

What I claim is- 1. The method of manufacturing bituminous composition roofing which consists in forming the composition into sheets and pressing the surface of said sheets against a sheet of textile material while such surface is in a plastic condition to emboss on said roofing sheets a design in imitation of said textile material, said sheet of textile material being wet to prevent adhesion of the roofing sheets thereto.

2. The method of manufacturing bituminous composition roofing which consists in forming the composition into sheets and rolling said sheets in contact with an endlocation, said portions being less than one inch apart.

4;. The process of improving the wearing qualities of the surface of a sheet of roofing which consists in forming the integral material of said surface into regularly disposed elevated portions of predetermined dimensions, said elevated portions being less than one inch apart.

5. The process of improving roofing sheets which consists in forming the surface thereof into small regular upstanding ridges of substantially equal dimensions, said ridges being less than one inch apart.

6. In the process of improving roofing material, the step which consists in forming upon the outer surface thereof a plurality of depressions predetermined as to size and location, said depressions being less than one inch apart.

7. The process of improving the wearmg qualities of a sheet of bituminous roofing material which comprises providing said surface with closely spaced integral elevated portions of predetermined dimensions, said elevated portions being less than one inch apart defining depressed portions.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES C. WOODLEY.

Witnesses:

Dr. ANTHONY lUsINA, lLULn S'rUBENvoLL. 

